Heard In Iran: Can Iran Block the Strait of Hormuz?

July 2 -- In an exclusive interview with Radio Farda, former British Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said [audio in Persian]: "I think the obligation is on Iran to cooperate much more fully with the international community and with the UN in demonstrating their peaceful intent and the first step they could make would, of course, be the suspension of the uranium enrichment program." He added, "I think there should be a willingness to consider the normalization of relations with Iran if the Iranians, for their part, give up in a verifiable way both their nuclear weapon program and their support for terrorism."

Minor to be Executed

July 2 -- Attorney Mohammad Mostafaie says that his client, Mohammad Fadaei, has not committed murder and is innocent. "I'm representing 21 offenders like him...they had no criminal intent, it is not fair to execute these children... One of them paints, the other is a sculptor, they have hopes in life" [text in Persian]. In related news, lawyers and civil rights activists in Iran and abroad discussed the death penalty for juvenile offenders in Iran on Radio Farda's "Evening Magazine" program [audio in Persian].

Can Iran Block the Strait of Hormuz?

July 1 -- Radio Farda's military analyst, Hossein Aryan, says it is impossible for Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz. Rather, they can only disrupt oil tanker traffic, which would force Persian Gulf countries to side with the U.S. against Iran: "Iran itself is an oil exporter and is in dire need of oil revenue, so blocking the Hormuz Strait...would be political and economic suicide for this country," he says [text in Persian].

Peaceful Protestors Arrested

June 26 -- Protestors demonstrating against corruption were arrested and attacked by Iranian police in front of Tehran's Mellat (National) Park, according to a member of the Committee of Human Rights Reports in Iran. He said [audio in Persian]: "Some of those arrested were passersby who joined the assembly because they had the same economic problems...one of the main fears of the leadership is that such protests may become concentrated."